Back To The 90s

Jesse Walker has now taken us back to 1997.  It was the year of Titanic, a ship that foundered yet crushed everything in its path.

So here are his top ten films from a generation ago:

1. Oz
2. The Apostle
3. The Sweet Hereafter
4. fast, cheap & out of control
5. Deconstructing Harry
6. Jackie Brown
7. The Ice Storm
8. Henry Fool
9. Sunday
10. Face/Off

Oz is a TV series, and thus shouldn't be on this list. (It's also a show I don't like nearly as much as Jesse.)

The Apostle is a thoughtful film, but not much more (though I only saw it once on TV, and was distracted at the time).

The Sweet Hereafter, a film about grief, might make my top ten.

Fast, Cheap & Out Of Control is a fun documentary by Errol Morris.  (I don't think he's so much fun any more.)

Jesse calls Deconstructing Harry the last great Woody Allen film.  Let's just say it's one of his few good films in the last 20 years.

I didn't love Jackie Brown when it came out, but it's aged better than any other Tarantino film.

I like the Ice Storm if just for the design alone.

Henry Fool was something different from Hal Hartley, and it's by far his best film. (He's since made a couple sequels which don't really compare.)

I've never seen Sunday.

I like John Woo, but I'm not part of his cult.  Face/Off is one of his most enjoyable films.

11. Grosse Pointe Blank
12. Ulee's Gold
13. Gattaca
14. L.A. Confidential
15. Public Housing
16. The Rainbow Man/John 3:16
17. The Spanish Prisoner
18. The Eel
19. Gummo
20. Absolute Power

I consider 11 an incoherent mess with a nice soundtrack.  12 is a fine film, with Peter Fonda's best performance.  13 is a good idea poorly executed.  14 is a film the critics went wild for but left me cold.  Haven't seen 15 (though I've seen enough Wiseman to have a good idea what it's like).  Haven't seen 16.  17 is a good example of why Mamet should stick to theatre.  Haven't seen 18.  19 might make my top ten list.  20 is a not very special action film.

Other films that would have made my top ten or twenty list (some of which I'm surprised to see Jesse didn't mention):

As Good As It Gets

Boogie Nights (and I believe Hard Eight got its release in 1997, making it two for two)

Lost Highway

The Man Who Knew Too Little (a critically-despised flop for Bill Murray, but I think it's one of his best comedies)

Men In Black

Mr. Nice Guy

Princess Mononoke

Waiting For Guffman (is this '96 or '97?)

Other films I enjoyed:

Air Force One, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, Chasing Amy, Clockwatchers, The Daytrippers, Donnie Brasco, The Full Monty, The Game, In The Company Of Men (despite its disastrous ending), Life Is Beautiful (which in some ways is obscene but still works), Microcosmos, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Postman (first half), Private Parts, Starship Troopers (despite was Verhoeven thought he was doing), SubUrbia, Trekkies, Wild Man Blues

 Other films of note:

4 Little Girls, 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag, Addicted To Love, Affliction, Albino Alligator, Alien Resurrection, An American Werewolf In Paris, Amistad, Anaconda, Anna Karenina, Bad Manners, Bad Movie, B*A*P*S, Batman & Robin, Bean, The Beautician And The Beast, Behind Enemy Lines, Beneath The Surface, Beverly Hills Ninja, Beyond Words, The Big One, Booty Call, The Borrowers, The Boxer, Breakdown, Breaking Up, Buddy, The Butcher Boy, Cat's Eye, City Of Industry, Comedian Harmonists, Con Air, Conspiracy Theory, Contact, Cop Land, The Cremaster Cycle, Critical Care, Cube, Dante's Peak, Dead Letter Office, Def Jam's How To Be A PLlyer, The Designated Mourner, The Devil's Advocate, Different For Girls, The Dog Of Flanders, Dogtown, Don King: Only In America, The Edge, The Education Of Little Tree, Eight Days A Week, Eve's Bayou, Event Horizon, Fair Tale: A True Story, Fathers' Day, Fierce Creatures, The Fifth Element, Fire Down Below,

Flubber, Fools Rush In, For Richer Or Poorer, Funny Games, G.I. Jane, Gang Related, George Of The Jungle, god of Gambler 3: The Early Stage, Gone Fishin', Good Burger, Good Will Hunting, Gridlock'd, Hands On A Hard Body: The Documentary, Happy Together, Heads Or Tails, hero, Hitman, Hoodlum, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, Hurricane Streets, I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Married A Strange Person!, In & Out, Insomnia, Intruder, The Invader, Inventing The Abbotts, Jack Frost, The Jackal, Jane Eyre, Jungle 2 Jungle, Kickboxing Academy, Kiss Me, Guido, Kiss The Girls, Kundun, Leave It To Beaver, Leprechaun 4: In Space, Liar Liar, Licensed To Kill, A Life Apart, A Life Less Ordinary, Lifeline, Lolita, The Long Way Home, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Mad City, Masterminds, The Mayor, McHale's Navy, Meet Wally Sparks, Men With Guns, Metro, Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, Mimic, Mother And Son, Mr. Magoo, Mrs. Dalloway, Murder at 1600, Night Falls On Manhattan, Nil By Mouth, Once Upon A Time In China And America, One Night Stand, Oscar And Lucinda, Out To Sea,  Of Order, The Peacemaker, Picture Perfect, Pippi Longstocking, Prefontaine, The Rainmaker, The Relic, Rosewood, The Saint, Seven Years In Tibet, Smilla's Sense Of Snow, Soul Food, Spawn, Speed 2: Cruise Control, Spice World, Star Kid, Star Maps, Strategic Command, Suicide Kings, Sweethearts, The Tango Lesson, That Darn Cat, That Old Feeling, A Thousand Acres, Titanic, Trial And Error, Trojan War, Tromeo And Juliet, U Turn, Vanishing Point, Vegas Vacation, Volcano, Waco: The Rules Of Engagement, Wag The Dog, Washington Square, Weapons Of Mass Distraction, Welcome To Sarajevo, Welcome To Woop Woop, Wilde, The Wings Of The Dove, Year Of The Horse, Zeus And Roxanne